Maria The Cat
by tinyartsy
Summary: Maria knew she wasn't a normal Mobian, how could she be? She had memories that aren't her own but yet are apart of who she was.. But before she can figure out her past, her present is in dire trouble. With Sonic 'dead', it's up to the resistance to fight back, but can she keep her past and abilities as secret as she helps fight back?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-

It's been months since Sonic was supposedly killed by Dr Eggman and Infinite, Mobius has been a war ever since.. If you could call it a war. Many Mobian's have submitted to Eggman's rule, but others haven't and still fight. The resistance was marveled by many, including Maria, she was terrified but she knew she needed to help. Maria had fought to try and save her home before, but infinite had attacked her squadron, she lost several friends that day. But he spoke to her, he could sense her fear and it still sent shivers down her spine.

_Flashback-_

_All Maria could hear was explosions, gunfire, screams and shouts from her fellow squad members. She was terrified, Infinite was cutting through them with just a swipe of his hand. _

"_Fight back! Fire!" She could hear her squad shout over the rumble of the battle. Maria held her burst gun, firing towards the floating figure as he came towards them. _

"_He's up there!" Someone pointed out. Maria felt her tail move between her legs, but she kept firing. _

"_**There is no reason to resist!**_" _Infinite said to them almost calmly before he formed a ball of energy in his hand. Maria gasped and moved behind some rumble as the energy shot towards them. She heard cries and screams as her squad was hit. Maria trembled looking over at the limp bodies around her. _

"_**I can taste your terror child..**_" _Maria reached for her weapon and pointed it up towards Infinite as he stared her down. "__**All that anxiety...and doubt.**_" _She was shaking like a leaf, she could hear her weapon rattling. _

"_**It's delicious~**_" _He practically purred as he sent an energy shot towards her, it went off in front of her sending the cat backwards to the ground. Maria shot a look to her weapon which sat several feet away from her now. _

"_**Give into your fear.. Flee screaming and I'll let you live,**_" _Infinite continued to look down at her. Maria sat there on the ground, unable to move, her eyes wide in pure terror. His laugh soon followed as he enjoyed the destruction and terror, he inflicts. _

Maria shook herself out of her thoughts, she had joined the resistance's main force to try and do better, she can't keep being afraid.. She had to do more, she could do more. Maria looked at her communicator, she has been called to go to the meeting room to be introduced to everyone by knuckles. She took a deep breath as she walked down the hall, the resistance headquarters had obviously seen better days, walls were crumbling but this is the safest she has felt for months.

"It's got them running in fear," Maria turned a bit moving towards a door after hearing knuckles voice, it opened as she got close to it. "All except this brave kid, who survived the battle and made it here in one piece."

Maria looked at Knuckles as he made his way over, she blushed a bit but deep down she didn't feel brave, she ran when Infinite told her too.

"Meet our newest Recruit," Knuckles smiled at her before patting her hard on the back, she stumbled forward a bit before giving him a look with a soft huff.

"..It's nice to meet you all, My name is Maria," she spoke softly as she introduced herself. Everyone was staring at her but she just smiled at them. Maria watched as the bee fly over to her and looked her up and down.

"Hmmm, doesn't look like much," He commented.

"Neither do you Charmy, but I still find a use for your pointy butt." Knuckles sorta came to her defense. Maria shook her head amused. She looked around the room again quickly, a tall gator, two hedgehogs, a chameleon. She recognised them all, what Mobian wouldn't? They always stepped up to save the world.

"_I hope to see the world one day.."_

"Here kid, take this," Maria shook her head briefly to push back the memories, turning her attention back to Knuckles. Knuckles was holding up a burst gun towards her, she took it, her hands shaking slightly. "We are depending on you.."

Maria held it tightly, 'not too much pressure then', she thought to herself.

"Okay, let's get going everybody, the world's not gonna save itself." Knuckles was now speaking to everyone. Maria watched as they all cheered in agreement. Maria felt pride, they were certain they could do this and she couldn't help but agree with them, her tail swishing happily behind her.

* * *

A couple hours later, Maria sat in the infirmary helping the nurses and doctors the best she could before she had to head out on her first mission. Knuckles had been very excited about something, but he seemed to want to confirm it before sending anyone on a mission. So she was here waiting.

"Maria, dear, could you help me?" A male voice called out to her. Maria turned from her current task to see the Doctor, an old white wolf, called Dr Lupin. She smiled at him softly before making her way over.

"How can I help?" she asked, and then was handed a set of bandages from Dr Lupin.

"I need to help another patient, can you finish up here?" he asked gesturing to a gash that had been stitched up on a female rabbit laying on the bed. Maria nodded her head, "Of course, Doctor." The older Mobian gave her a grateful smile before heading off. Maria looked down at the patient and smiled at her softly, the rabbit gave her a tired smile back. The cat gently wrapped up the injury, but at the same time, she was carefully pushing chaos energy into the rabbits body, slowly healing the injuries. Maria couldn't let people sit and suffer but she was afraid to show her abilities.

Maria knew she wasn't a normal mobian, herself was based off someone else, she had memories that weren't her own. Maria Robotnik.. Her name was Maria Robotnik but Maria knew she wasn't her, yet she was. It confuses her greatly and she hoped to figure out why this happened one day, for now though, she was content to help save the world. Hopefully..

Maria helped several others before she heard her communicator went off, it was time to go. She took a deep breath before she waved towards the nurses to let them know she was going. They happily waved back to her. She felt warmth in her chest, what lovely people.. Maria vowed to do her best for them.

The chemical plant spaceport, the place was filled with clinking of machines and robots, the air was foul from the mixtures that Eggman has been brewing up here. But they were here for a reason, they needed to steal a shuttle to get to the Death Egg. Sonic was there and he was alive! This could change the tide in the war. Maria wrinkled her nose at bit as she ran through along the pipes, before shooting her grappling hook up and swung onto a path where robots were waiting for her. As she got ready to fight, she heard her communicator went off, "_Espio here. My team's engaging the enemy in the orbital tunnel_."

Maria mentally nodded her head before she used her apportation to practically teleport the robots off the side of the road.

"_I think we can hold them off for now._"

Maria continued on her way, fighting off more robots, how Eggman pumps this many out so quickly, she has no idea. The materials he consumes alone.. She shook her head a bit before she shot her grappling hook up again to reach another level.

"_No, wait! The masked one's here! The monster that took down sonic!_" It took everything she had not to freeze in fear. Maria shuddered before she kicked a robot off the edge as she ran towards her goal.

"_Stay focused, Rookie! We're off to find a shuttle!_" Maria heard Vector call through the communicator, she couldn't help but look around, were they watching her from somewhere? Maria let out a quiet huff before continuing on. She fought her way through a horde of robots, dodging shots fired towards her. Maria was internally freaking out, flashes of humans with guns came to mind. She shook her head again, she didn't have time for this, she had to find a shuttle.

"_Hey, that looks like a freight train!_" Vector again.

"_It's carrying supplies. I don't think it's armed or anything._" That was Amy.

Maria looked over and saw the freight coming, oh no.. Maria realised what she had to do, she made a noise of fear before she hesitantly started to run. She shot her grapple hook out in front of her and jumped, swinging towards the oncoming freight train.

"OHHHHHH! NOOOO!" Maria screamed as she landed on top of the train, her body sliding off the edge, she grabbed at the box barely managing to stop herself from falling off, her claws digging into the metal. Maria climbed up onto the roof, then looked up, her eyes widening before she sent her grappling hook up again. She just managed to get in the air before the train disappeared into a wall. But it wasn't over yet, she appeared above the wall, flying over it when another freight train made its way towards her. Another shot of her grappling hook pulled her out of its way.

Maria landed on another road and just stopped herself from tripping over, her legs were shaking so badly. But she had much further to go still, she was nowhere near the landing pad where the shuttles were located. Maria hoped Shadow would be proud of her. She got flashes of the black and red hedgehog who would stand next to her as they looked out of the window at the earth. No, she shook her head, these weren't her memories.

She shook the dirt of her dress before she steeled herself, she had to keep going. Maria gripped her burst and ran forward taking out as many robots as she could.

"_Let's head in while Espio keeps them busy!_"

Maria's ear twitched as she heard Silver through the communicator, she wondered how the others were doing. She hoped they were doing okay. More Robot's were destroyed in her path as she got closer to the landing pad.

"_We need a shuttle to get to sonic in time!_"

This made Maria move faster, knuckles was right, they needed to hurry before Eggman decided to finally get rid of the blue hedgehog. Maria was panting softly, this was definitely something she wasn't used too. She should run more in the future.

"_It's quiet at the launch pad for now. Grab a shuttle before they sound the alert!_"

Maria smiled widely, they were doing it, they were so close.

"_Perfect. They won't mind if we borrow this for awhile._"

Maria started to run a bit faster, then moved to slide between another robot and sprung up to shoot it from behind. She smiled almost giddly, she was actually fighting and she was winning. Just a bit further to go!

"_Hurry it up, rookie! Get outta there as soon as everyone's aboard. Step on it!_"

Maria nodded her head, "I'm almost there!" she spoke up for the first time on the mission. She lifted her gun up and fired at the row of robots, that appeared before her. She gained a confident look before she rushed forward, the robots falling on one after the other. Maria then used her grapple hook to get over the large gap between her and the landing pads. She could see the shuttle they were taking now. She ran over to it seeing Espio and Vector were waiting outside for her. Maria stopped in front of them trying to catch her breath, the gator gave her a toothy smile.

"Glad you could make it, Maria." he teased as the three went into the shuttle. Maria let out a breathless giggle in response.

"..Sorry I was late, Vector, you know how traffic is." Maria joked, earning a small snort from Espio while Vector laughed. Maria gained a huge grin at that. She then felt a gentle pat on her back, she looked at Espio.

"Time to buckle in, Sonic isn't going to save him.." The chameleon stated. Maria stood up a bit straighter and nodded her head. The three then rushed to get into their seats, Maria sitting down near Vector but behind Silver who seemed to be going to fly the shuttle. She buckled in and looked out the window, she gripped at the arms of the seat. Though she was in space before, she has never experienced the actual flight to it. She had been born on the Ark, well, the original Maria had been, but she had the memories nonetheless.. Maria took a deep breath before focusing on something else.

'Don't worry Sonic, we are coming for you..'

* * *

**Oh boy, it's been years since I've written a fanfic for anything. After maybe bingeing sonics shows and a few games, I had to get my idea out there. I have a drawing of Maria on my tumblr, tinyartsy, if anyone is interested in getting a full idea of what she looks like. I'm also open to ideas, comments, thoughts, criticism and all that. But anyway! Thank you for reading and getting this far! **


	2. Chapter 2

Maria was never going to get in a shuttle with Silver driving ever again, she gripped the arms of her seat so tightly, her claws had ripped the fabric, the cushion and maybe the metal.

"We've here!" Silver exclaimed almost proudly as they landed in the shuttle bay.

"...thank chaos." Maria just heard Espio, her ear twitching as she choked on her laugh trying to hide it. She coughed a bit, looking away out the window. Everyone was slowly picking themselves out of their seats, all in a state of disarray. Knuckles had literally ripped the arms of his chair off, Amy's hair was all over the place, and Charmy was clinging to Vector with his eyes extremely wide.

Maria got up herself, heading after knuckles who was far too excited to actually be on the Death Egg than the shuttle. Not that she blamed him. Maria went over to him and gently patted his shoulder to get his attention. Knuckles looked at her then gave a sharp nod, and took a deep breath, facing the others as they gathered just outside the shuttle.

"Alright everyone, Rouge said they were preparing to send Sonic into space, it's now or never. We have to save Sonic." Knuckles stated, the others nodding in agreement.

"We are going to split up, there is too much ground to cover for us all to stick together." Silver spoke up holding a hand drawn map from Rouge. "Rouge has given us a few ideas where Sonic might be, so we are each going to go a different route." Silver then directed the Chaotix gang down one way, where they'll split up themselves further along the way. Amy and Knuckles went another, and then Maria was directed towards another way. She nodded her head to Silver and took off down a path.

Maria just ran through many halls and doors, this place was a giant prison but practically all the cells were empty. That was disconcerting.. Maria felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had to stop and look inside one briefly, she started to feel nauseous it reminded her of the Ark. She shook her head again, her tail curling around her leg, this place was depressing.

"_Listen up, Rookie._" Maria jumped when Knuckles spoke up through the communicator. Right, she had a job to do. She left this area to continue her search for the blue hedgehog.

"_Our other forces are busy dealing with the enemies._" Maria made a noise of acknowledgement as she jumped down onto another path. "_It looks like you took the best route._"

She made another noise of acknowledgement before she spotted several Egg Robot's coming towards her. She rushed forward and used her burst gun too smash through the small wave of robots, but the waves kept coming.

"_It's up to you to save Sonic now. Find him!_" Maria bit her lip nervously, again, no pressure. She took a deep breath and went further into the prison hall, she could do this. They were counting on her. Maria took a deep breath summoning her chaos energy before she took off of the ground and flew forward, smashing into robot after robot as they charged towards her. As each robot fell, she gained more confidence in herself. In her other life, she was frail but now in this life she can finally be free to be herself.

"_The prisoner's are being held in a kind of internment facility._" Maria stopped briefly to listen, she looked around making sure no more robot's were coming towards her at the time. "_Security is tight, so stay on your toes._" Maria sighed, she was hoping for more information than that, but she'll take what she can get. Maria prepped herself and started to run again, but she was taking her time to see if there were any signs that'll lead her to where she needed to go.

Maria again was attacked by Dr Eggman's robots, they were an endless swarm. But she did her best to shoot, smash and push her way through the horde defending the prison area. Maria used her grapple hook to pull herself up to another level, there were miles upon miles of pathways she could take.

"_Nothing in this room, either.._" Maria could hear the frustration in Silver's voice, she couldn't blame him. She hoped they found Sonic soon, so Eggman didn't decide to just throw him out into space while they searched.

"_Man! We're still trying to find a way out. They've got us pinned down!_" Maria stopped after landing on another platform and spoke into the communicator, "Vector, do you need some help?"

"_Don't worry about us, Rookie! Keep going and find Sonic!_"

Maria nodded her head, but she could hear the smile in his voice, he was amused. Maria smiled a bit before she went back to running through the Death Egg's halls. She sighed at the name, he just loves his puns doesn't he?

"_Looks like this place was used up until recently,_" Maria's ear twitched, so they moved someone, it could of been Sonic but he wasn't there anymore if it was. They had to keep searching.

"_It appears that many of our brethren were held here.._" Espio spoke up, but Maria just felt sick, where were they all now? This place was filled with robot's but not once has she seen a living creature.

"_That's one more thing Eggman will answer for._" She could hear the faint growl in Silver's tone, and she agreed. This man was apart of the Robotnik family, her cousin.. Yet he soils the family name in the name of conquest. She took another deep breath, 'no.. I'm not her..' Maria looked up and took her frustrations out on more robots who attempted to stop her in her tracks.

Maria whimpered as a couple shots from a flying bot, clipped her shoulder and the alarms started blaring. Oh chaos, she had to hurry, they knew they were here to get Sonic. Maria focused on the bot firing at her and then it disappeared from view. Only to appear in space, it squeaked in surprise as it drifted off.

"_Uh-oh. they are on high alert now.._"

'Thanks Rouge, I never would have guessed' Maria barely stopped herself from snapping at bat. She slid down a level, before taking shelter in a corner. Maria felt bad for thinking what she did, it wasn't her fault, she looked at her shoulder and hissed at the burn marks. She had to fix this later. Maria sucked it up before she headed off again.

"_I sense Sonic's presence. He's close!_" Maria made a noise of happiness, but she didn't know if he was free or not yet. When everything around her started to rumble.

"_Sonic's escaped! Everyone, return to the shuttle!_" Knuckles voice came through the communicator. That must have been what the rumbling was.

"_Gotcha!_" "_I'm on my way._" "_Yes! Go Sonic!_"

Maria giggled at the responses, they were all so excited. She started to make her way back, chaos she was tired, she had a bit to go though. The shuttle bay was back in the opposite direction, at least the way was free of robots.

* * *

Just as she got back, the shuttle in her sights, she got hit from behind. Maria whimpered as she was sent flying, landing on her bad shoulder. Her weapon flying across the ground far from her reach. Maria looked up to see herself surrounded by robot's but she wasn't going to stay down in fear. She jumped up from the ground, and sent out a blast, the bot's disappearing one by one. Each one of them joining the flying bot out in space.

She landed on her feet and her knees buckled a bit only for a hand to gently grab her arm, she jumped a bit before looking up. Her gaze was met with a pair of emerald green eyes.

"Woah there bud, everything's cool! You okay?" Sonic asked with a massive smile on her face. Maria blushed a bit embarrassed. "Yes, thank you.." She replied.

"Are you here to rescue me?" He asked while helping Maria keep steady, the hedgehog taking in the slightly smaller feline. She looked far from a fighter, yet he didn't know how bad it was down on Mobius.

"Yes, Knuckles and the others should be at the shuttle by now." Maria explained.

"Well, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It's been awhile since I've seen a friendly face.." Sonic was smiling but it was fake now, he obviously has been through a lot these past 6 months.

"I'm sorry we didn't come sooner. We just found out you were still...alive.." Maria felt terrible, he must of wondered why no one had come for him sooner. Sonic just kindly waved her off.

"Don't worry about it, I'm free now. That's all that matters, right?" He gave her, his signature smile. She shook her head in amusement, but she smiled with him. She couldn't fault his logic there.

"_Hey Rookie, you still in one piece?_" Maria heard her communicator go off, she reached around to grab it, though before she could speak herself.

"Oh, sure. Don't bother to ask how I am." Sonic stepped in with a witty comment.

"_Sonic! I'm so glad!_" Maria's ear went flat again her head, that was loud..

"Amy?" Sonic looked a bit surprised himself. Maria laughed softly before she started to tug Sonic towards the shuttle gentle.

"_Hold up Amy. We're all happy Sonic's alive! But he won't be if he doesn't get off that egg in a hurry._"

Sonic rolled his eyes playfully, "Your concern is touching knuckles." He then start to jog a bit towards the waiting shuttle, it was obvious that he was keeping slow so Maria could keep up. She was grateful but picked up her speed, she wanted to get off this place as quickly as she could. Sonic nodded to her as they jumped down to get to the ramp that lead into the shuttle. Once inside, the door closed behind them. Maria let out a sigh of relief before she rushed to check to see if Silver was driving, he wasn't. She sighed in relief again much to Sonic's amusement.

Maria smiled at him before she went to sit in her seat, the others starting to greet and hug Sonic. Especially Amy. She was hugging the living daylights out of him. Luckily Knuckles and Silver stepped in to give Sonic some breathing room. Knuckles then patted the blue hedgehog on his shoulder, "Sonic, finding you alive is the best news we've had in months. But here's the bad news-" Silver interrupted.

"We can go over all of that tomorrow, but first we all need some rest." He said giving Knuckles a look, like 'give him five minutes dude'. Knuckles scrunched up his face but nodded his head. Though Sonic looked like he was already twitching for some action.

"Silver's right, we should all take a breather so we can kick butt better tomorrow." Knuckles then went off to fly the shuttle back down to Mobius. "So, buckle up everyone, let's get off this stinking place."

Maria looked up when Sonic came and sat next to her, "So partner, what's your name?" Sonic asked.

"My name is Maria, Maria The Cat.. It's lovely to meet you, Sonic." Maria held out her hand, which Sonic happily took and shook her hand. But he had a thoughtful look in his eye, 'Maria..' that name was family to him.

"Nice to meet you, Maria!" He smiled at her, "thanks for the save again, bud, I appreciate being rescued."

Maria gave him a gentle smile. "I'm glad I could be of help..but how are you feeling?" She saw his smile faltered a bit before he tried to mask it, Maria caught it though.

"..I..I'll be okay, I rather not talk about it." Sonic replied honestly while looking away. Maria nodded her head not pushing it. They had just met after all, she didn't want to overstep the boundaries.

They fell into a comfortable silence while the shuttle heading back down to Mobius.

* * *

Maria didn't realise she had fallen asleep until she felt someone gently shake her shoulder, she hissed in pain. They had touched her burns.

"Oh chaos! I'm sorry, you alright there partner?" Sonic's panicked voice filled her ears. Maria looked up at him tiredly before she was waved him off.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just got hit by a laser.." Maria stood up, carefully touching the sore spot. She looked around to see that everyone else had gathered around them. She blushed in embarrassment.

"You sure your alright, Rookie?" Knuckles asked, his voice filled with concern. Maria nodded her head, "yes, I'll head to the infirmary to get it checked over. Don't worry." She offered. This made everyone relax, before they headed off the shuttle. Maria went with them, but she headed off in another direction to head to her shared quarters. She held her hand over her injury, carefully pushing chaos energy into it. The injury healing up completely. Maria slumped over a bit, her body language just screaming exhaustion. Regardless of all this, Maria felt like they had accomplished a lot today. They had rescued Sonic, hopefully they can take back their home one piece at a time.

Maria got to her shared quarters and saw that most of the others were already asleep, she got ready for bed. Tomorrow, the adventure continues.

* * *

**Kurama The Platinum Zoroark:** **Thank you for the review, I really appreciate it!**

**Guest:** **I hope to elaborate on Maria more in future! Is Maria but not the same Maria, though she has her memories. I'll explain better soon! Thank you for your review!**

**Thank you for the views and support so far! I'll update again soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

Maria woke up the next morning to her communicator going off, she rubbed her eyes as she sleepily reached over to grab at it. The cat grumbled softly to herself before she picked it up.

"..'Ello?" She mumbled into the communicator.

"_Rookie, meeting room. 10 minutes._" Knuckles sounded just as awake as she was, Maria made a noise of acknowledgement.

"..alright." she got up from bed and stretched out, her bones clicking into place. Maria purred happily, she always felt good after a good stretch. Maria then went about getting dressed, she slipped into her dress, her dress shorts were pulled up then her shoes, which was then followed by her gloves. Maria didn't have much time left, so she pulled her hair back into a low ponytail on her way to the meeting room. She picked up her pace a bit to get there in time, the cat slipping in to the room after Espio, who had been walking in not far in front of her.

Maria gave everyone a happy wave in greeting as she went and stood next to Sonic. The speedster placing his hand on her shoulder briefly in greeting. She gave him as smile nodding in a return greeting.

Knuckles then finally came in holding a massive mug of coffee, Maria's nose twitching at the bitter smell. The echidna took a second to pull his thoughts together before he brought up today's mission, "Alright, So, back to business, remember what I was saying last night, Sonic." Maria felt Sonic tense up a bit next to her, his spines spiking up slightly.

"Yeah, something about bad news," Sonic made a gesture for Knuckles to continue.

"Right, so here's the bad news. Our Intel indicates Eggman's got a weapons factory in Green Hill, pumping out the munitions for his war efforts." Knuckles directed everyone's gaze to the screen where there were now photos of a pyramid structure on display.

"A factory? We can't take out Eggman's home base in Metropolis if he's got a factory supplying him." Silver piped up and Maria gained a thoughtful look, so they were planning on hitting the big city. But, yes, Silver was right, it'll turn out super bad if they attacked the city with this factory still in commission.

"No kidding." Knuckles nodded his head toward the silver hedgehog before he looked over at Sonic. "Look Sonic, I know you just got back but we're spread thin. Can you take care of this? We need that factory in Green Hill destroyed. Take the rookie with you."

Maria and Sonic shared a look, nodding their heads with a big smile. But Vector then said, "You sure about this? The kid was shaking like a leaf the whole time we were at the Death Egg." Maria crossed her arms in response to that, looking a little offended, she tried her best up there and she thought she had done quite well.

Charmy though, sorta came to her defense. "That's because it's cold in space! The factory is nice and warm." Sonic placed his hand on Maria's shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze, this time in more of a silent supporting way.

"It will be when it's burnt to the ground! Sonic, you take the lead. Rookie, just make sure you take good notes." Knuckles suggested with a cheeky grin. Maria huffed at them all softly, though she had a small smile on her face. Sonic though looked incredibly excited at the thought, he jumped up into the air and landed on the table in the middle of the room.

"I've got six months of payback I'm just dying to spend. This sounds like a good start!" Sonic jumped back down from the table and, before anyone could get another word in, he grabbed Maria by her arm and pulled her out of the meeting room. She waved to the others as they left.

* * *

Sonic and Maria were getting closer to the factory, the number of robots against them slowly increasing. Sonic stopped though just as they got onto the final road, he looked at Maria almost seriously yet he was still smiling at her.

"Alright! 'Ria, are you ready for this?" he asked, though he did have full confidence she could do this, he just wanted his partner to be ready before they headed in and took this factory down. Maria held her new lightning wispon close and nodded her head firmly.

"Yes, I'm ready!" Maria smiled, "Let's do this!"

Sonic nodded his head, "Okay then!" He smirked, before he got into a running pose and took off. Maria joined him quickly, she was using her chaos energy to keep up with the extremely fast hedgehog. The large pyramid structure quickly coming into their view.

"_The enemy's factory is inside the pyramid. I can send reinforcements if you don't you can handle it._" Knuckles voice came through their communicators, but Sonic and Maria just smiled at each other in excitement.

"No need! The two of us are more than enough!" Sonic replied, he sounded super confident about their chances of taking this place out. "We'll Blitz this place and open up a path for the resistance!"

Maria jumped forward, before she rolled into a somersault, her wispon lightning whip spinning with her and took out the robots in her path. While Sonic followed up with a spin dash, the pair quickly gaining ground as they got closer to the pyramid. They stopped suddenly though as they came to the end of the path, a canyon between them and the rest of the way to pyramid.

"Grab on, Sonic, I have an idea!" Maria said before she started running forward setting her grappling hook in position, Sonic grabbed her other wrist and the hook shot out. She jumped up with Sonic holding her, her hook latching onto a metal frame that was sitting on the other side of the canyon. Both of them then were being repelled across the canyon. Maria threw Sonic forward before she released her hook and landed next to him.

Sonic nodded his head in satisfaction, "Great work, partner! Now it's my turn," he winked before he took her hand again, he dashed off running at high speed. Maria used her chaos energy to levitate herself off the ground so she didn't slow the speedster down.

The Eggman robots literally didn't know what hit them as a yellow and blue blur mowed them down, this blur then headed up the side of the pyramid. Sonic seemed to be picking up speed as they climbed up. Maria had her eyes closed trying not to get sand in her eyes as she was dragged up behind him. They reached the top in record time, it seemed to be their only way into the factory. Sonic had to make a sudden stop, and instinctively held onto Maria so she didn't fall forward into the large opening from the loss of momentum.

Maria stumbled a bit feeling a little dizzy after the rush. "Oh chaos, that was..woah.." She mumbled, Sonic chuckling beside her, pulling out his let the others know.

"Bingo! We found a way in!"

"_You should be able to get into the factory through there. Stay Alert!_" Amy responded.

Sonic looked down the hole, he shuffled on his feet in excitement, "heh, this should be fun." Maria thought the opposite, she wasn't looking forward to it. They both jumped down into the massive air port and there seemed to be air resistance. The port was more like a wind tunnel, so they weren't just falling hundreds of feet, they were floating down hundreds of feet. But it wouldn't be Eggman's factory without lasers. So Maria and Sonic had to dodge them on their way down. They landed and rolled to their feet, Maria looked around cautiously but Sonic was looking at the robot's gathering in front of them.

"So they're building weapons here, huh?" Sonic commented, putting his hands on his hips. "Making everyone work like robots."

Maria turned to him with an emotionless expression meeting his smirking one, before she just laughed. "Is this mission just going to be filled with funny word play?" She asked.

"Of course! Come on, it's me we're talking about here!" Sonic boasted as they started to jog towards the gathering robots. Maria just laughed softly in amusement. Meanwhile, Sonic was looking at her again, taking in her demeanor, her personality. He had been doing it every time he saw her. He had his suspicions, she was awfully like the Maria that Shadow told him about. He had also seen a picture of her too, and the resemblance was uncanny. She had the same soft, caring eyes. He would ask her about all of this at another time but now, they had a job to do.

Maria's grapple hook came in handy in this place, none of Eggman's places were really safe to be in. As there were cut off pathways and giant holes everywhere. They needed to get to the heart of the place before even more robot's turned up or Eggman figures out what they were up too. But they needn't worry, Eggman was actually fighting younger Sonic and Tails at that time. But the pair nor the resistance now that at the time.

They eventually made it to the core of the factory, Maria standing guard at the exit while Sonic destroyed the Factories energy supply. The factory suddenly going really dark.

"Time to go, Partner!" Sonic said as he scooped her up and dashes out the factory, explosions following behind them. They didn't stop to look at the carnage behind them until they got to the edge of the industrial area around the factory. Sonic set her down after he came to a stop, Maria turned and took in the now crumbled pyramid, she felt good, really good. This will hopefully put a dent in Eggman's plans for now. The resistance can come through this area now.

"That was a cakewalk!" Sonic fist thumped the air.

"_I don't know why I was even worried._" Amy's voice came through the communicator. Sonic made a 'chh' noise as he flicked his nose as he struck a pose, Maria rolled her eyes a bit, but she was smiling.

"Time to head back," Maria spoke up, which got a nod from Sonic. The pair took off back the way they came, the pair travelling mostly in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. That silence was broken when Amy's voice came the communicator again.

"_Something is attacking inside the Mystic Jungle! Silver is fighting him...or it, or whatever! Just hurry._"

Sonic and Maria came to a stop when they heard this looking at each other, when Silver came through, "_Guys! It's him!_" Sonic frowned before looking a little mad.

"I'm looking forward to a second round with this guy!" Sonic snarled before he closed up his communicator, then turned to Maria. "You get base, 'Ria, I'm going to go and take care of this guy!"

Sonic was then suddenly gone leaving a brief blue blur behind him, leaving Maria alone to head to the base. "Be safe," Maria whispered before she continued her way back to the base.

* * *

Maria helped out in the infirmary again after she got back, she didn't have another mission to go too. She was helping Dr Lupin treat another soldier, when they heard, "Hey doc, mind giving us a hand." The voice sounded extremely tired. Maria turned around before the doctor, her eyes widening as she took in the two hedgehogs before her, they were covered in bruises. Silver seemed to have a gash on his head while Sonic was nursing his arm. He was holding Silver up too, his uninjured arm wrapped around Silver's waist.

"Great Chaos," Dr Lupin seemed to have finally turned around to take in his new patients. The old wolf pulled himself together quickly though. "Maria, can you take Mr Sonic to Bay 3 while I help Mr Silver to Bay 4."

Maria nodded her head instantly, the doctor carefully took Silver's weight from Sonic, the pair heading off Bay 4. Maria then looked at Sonic helping the speedster to Bay 3, "Infinite?" she inquired as he sat on the bed. Sonic nodded his head, "I got him but he got away. We need to figure out the source of his power!"

Maria carefully cleaned up his injuries, wiping off dirt and grime from his spines. "We will figure it, don't worry, we accomplished more in a past day than we have in months.. We will get there. I believe it." She said with conviction.

Sonic smiled widely, "of course we'll win! No doubt about that!" Then smile fell when Maria touched a particularly bad graze from a fall that had removed some of his spines from his back. Maria stopped touching it with the cotton pad.

"Sorry," Maria winced softly, she didn't want to cause him pain but it needed to be cleaned. Sonic waved her off letting her continue. Maria bit her lip before she laid her hand over the injury, she pushed her chaos energy into graze and watched as it healed up. The skin was still tender but it was healed. She looked up to see Sonic staring at her from over his shoulder, he gave her an inquisitive look, she grew nervous.

"Please don't tell anyone.." She whispered quietly, her ears flattening against her head. Sonic turned around, so he was facing her.

"Why not? Why are you hiding such a great ability?" Sonic actually lowered his voice so as not to call attention to them.

"You have a great ability Sonic.. But your always in danger because it draws attention to you, I don't think I could handle all that responsibility, or put my loved ones in danger. It might seem cowardly of me..I just.." Maria couldn't look the hero in the eyes, what would he think of her now. Sonic sat there thoughtfully, she wasn't wrong but he felt sad that people with these abilities felt they needed to hide. He felt like he had to put a stop to it, they deserved to be themselves.

Maria jumped when she felt Sonic put his hands on her shoulders, "Don't worry, Maria, your our friend now, it's not cowardly to think about others. Your still helping others the best you can, but we'll be here when your ready to let yourself shine"

Maria's heart was both warmed and saddened, she could see Shadow briefly flash into her mind as Sonic comforted her.

"I.. thank you, Sonic." Maria gave him a soft smile, "now let me heal the rest of your injuries." Sonic nodded and laid back on the bed. Maria cleaned up the rest of his injuries healing them up with her power. He was still feeling a little tender to the touch, yet he felt miles better than before.

Maria cleaned up the area before Dr Lupin came into the bay to check on her work. He was quite surprised to see Sonic with mostly healed injuries.

"Welp, you even heal fast Mr Sonic," He commented after checking over the hedgehog, "but now you just need to rest and _yes_, that means no running." Dr Lupin added just as Sonic opened his mouth to protest. Maria giggled from beside them.

"I'll let you go in the morning, take the time to get some sleep, Doctor's orders." Dr Lupin stated before leaving the Bay to help others. Maria also decided she needed to get some sleep, she had a feeling she'll need it for some reason. She patted Sonic's arm gently, "I'm gonna go to bed myself, have pleasant dreams Sonic."

Sonic waved after her, "Later Partner!" While a nurse came and handed Sonic some food.

Maria headed out of the infirmary, she felt a little relief that someone knew her secret, she just had to build herself up to show the others. She took a deep breath and smiled, joining the resistance has been the best decision so far. She couldn't wait to step up to any challenge they gave her.

* * *

**Whoop, Chapter 3, Thank you for reading this far! I hope to keep uploading a chapter a day but I might miss one day or two, but I'll try. I also hope you all like it so far. Feel free to ask questions, if you have thoughts or ideas, I'm always happy to listen! Thank you again for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

Maria headed to the meeting room sipping her tea, she had been called to a really early meeting. She felt like there will be a lot to do today, but she was prepared for anything. Maria waved to people in the halls, a lot were ex-patients going back to squads.

"Hi Maria!" "Morning!" "Good luck, Maria!"

"Morning, look after yourselves!" Maria called after them before she moved close to the meeting room doors, the doors being triggered to open. Espio and a few others were missing. Sonic and Silver must still be in the infirmary. The air in the room was tense, Amy was tapping away quickly on her computer. Knuckles was standing next to her, looking over her shoulder at the screen.

"Eggman's army has broken through! They're in the city! We need to get the people out of there!" Amy practically shouted as she was reading the mass of alerts coming through. Knuckles was frustrated, Maria could see it as his hands rolling up into tight fists.

"Who can we send? Sonic and Silver need time to heal!" Knuckles growled.

"_We've engaging enemy forces at Seaside Hills. We can't spare anyone!_" Espio called through the communicator. Maria rushed forward to the table to get a better understanding on what's going on. Amy gave her a nod as Maria stood next to her to peer over at the computer.

"_This is the 8th Unit! We're pinned down under heavy enemy fire!_"

Knuckles rubbed his face as took all the information in, "Man, looks like I've got no choice." He sighed before looking at Maria. "Okay, rookies, I've got a tough on for you. I need you to head back to the city and save those civilians."

Maria looked up from the computer to Knuckles and nodded her head, "I got this, I won't let you down." She stated firmly. Maria didn't give them a chance to say anything else, she had to get to the city, the longer they waited the worse it'll be in the city.

* * *

Maria ran into the city, the whole place was swarming with robots and several of the giant Death Egg robots. She shuddered, memories from the first attack on the city came flooding into her mind. Maria wiped her eyes, she didn't have the time to cry, she had people to save. She steeled herself before attacking the first set of robots she came across, followed the main road deeper into the city.

Maria started attacking more robots, they were surprisingly easy to destroy, she was listening to the communicator in her ear though. Maria bit her lip as she slide through part of a destroyed building, this had been someone's home. She shook her head, she had to stop briefly, the sighting was crushing. She picked up a falling frame, the picture inside damp and crinkled from the elements. The family in the picture looked happy, she hoped they are okay.. Maria looked around the area quickly, and saw a stuffed bear, she looked at the photo again. The bear belong to the child in the photo, they were holding it in there arms. Maria went over and picked up the bear putting it in the backpack she carries around on missions. She then removed the photo from the frame, putting the photo in her bag too. She'll try to find them.

"_I need a status update on the people who couldn't evacuate it time!_" Maria went back to what she was doing before, she needed to help out.

"_Espio here. We're engaging enemy forces, and can't search for civilians right now!_"

"_The fighting is too fierce for us to help out as well!_"

"_Sounds like you're our only hope, rookie. The rescue is in your hands!_"

"I'm on it!" Maria replied into the communicator, she looked up to see robots rushing towards her. Maria smirked, whipping out her lightning wispon. "Alright tin cans, bring it!" She dodged to the right as several shots were fired towards her. She raised her hand, sending most of the robots away over a cliff with her apportation ability while the others were taken out with a swipe of electricity.

Maria didn't pay much attention to much else as she made her way down the main down, well, that was until she came up to a giant hole. Well, it was more a canyon now, these Death Egg robots make so much damage.. But she had to get over. She looked around, her blue eyes landed on a set of sonic's boosters. She then looked back over at the canyon, there was a building she could attach her hook too. Maria took a deep breath in, "you got this, Maria.." she said to herself.

She ran back a bit, then turned around running straight towards the booster and it sends her flying through the air. "aaaaaaHH!" she screamed before she shakily managed to send out her hook in time for it to pull her back to solid ground on the other side of the newly made canyon.

"_Those are Death Egg robots! They're being mass-produced now!?_"

Maria took a second to catch her breath when that came through, she was relieved to hear that Silver was up and about, but yeah.. She knew they were here already. She went back to her task, running down the hill.

"_Uh oh, this ain't good. Might be too much for the rookie to handle._" Maria's ears twitched in frustration and maybe a little hurt.

"_Still, we can't just ignore them. You got this, right, rookie?_"

"Yes." Maria couldn't help but be a little short with them. She swung down into the middle of a roundabout. Several robots had cornered a bunch of civilians, Maria felt rage, there were children there. She roared and dashed forward, then she suddenly found herself in the middle of a pile of broken robots. Maria blinked in shock, what had happened? She then squeaked as she was tackled from behind and she stumbled forward a bit. She looked down, a small bird child was hugging her tightly, she twisted in their grip and knelt down.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Maria asked while the other civilians came forward, though hesitantly. Maria wasn't sure why but right now, she was focused on the child who was still hugging her tightly.

The child nodded their head, before looking up at Maria, their eyes filled with wonder. "..y-yes! Thank you for saving us!"

Maria smiled at him softly, he looked familiar, wait!, "It's my pleasure..oh, here! I think I have something of yours." She said as she took off her bag. She searched through and pulled out the teddy. The little bird's eyes went wide, and Maria heard a gasp beside her.

"Teddy!" The child shouted happily, taking the bear from Maria and hugging it tightly to his chest. Maria then felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see an older bird. She stood up, giving the woman a smile.

"Thank you, ma'am.." The bird lady looked extremely relieved and happy. Maria held up a finger before she pulled out the family photo. The woman made a happy noise of shock, which was followed by relieved tears. "Thank you, thank you!" She pulled Maria into a hug tightly before she picked up her son. A group of soldiers then arrived to help the civilians get out the city. Maria waved them off before she headed back on her way.

"_Nice work! A fine display of skill." _Maria blushed at the compliment, though she blacked out at what she actually did, but.. She saved though civilians so that's all that matters.

"_Wow, you really showed them who's boss._"

"_Come on, how am I going to top that?_" Maria went a bright red but just went back to fighting robots. She had no idea how long she was doing this for, as there was just robot after robot. The city was just swimming in them.

"_We've broken through enemy lines! The rescue is underway._"

Maria smiled widely, she was thrilled, absolutely thrilled.

"_We secured an escape route, so there is a safe way out._"

"_Thanks to the rookie, things are turning around! Let's keep this momentum going!_"

Maria got an extra boost from this, her actions were making an impact. She got a warm feeling throughout her whole body. She pushed her way through the final waves,.

"_Update from HQ! The enemy's on the run!_"

"_Mission complete. Well done, everyone!_"

Maria moved from a jog to a walk, panting softly, she then sat down on the edge of the road watching the robot pulling back from the city. She was happy, really happy, is this how Sonic and the others felt after saving the day? It was a huge rush.

"_Maria! That was impressive, but we still have a lot to do!_"

"_Great Job! I knew you could do it if you believed in yourself!_"

"_Nice moves, but if you hog all the glory, how am I going to look good?_"

Maria laughed softly, "I don't think that'll ever happen Vector, you don't have to worry," She replied. "And Sonic, how are you feeling?"

"_Great! I'm ready to get back out there, partner._"

"No need to rush, I'll make sure the world doesn't crumble without you~" She teased a bit as she stood up. Maria heard Sonic chuckled before the communicator fell silent. Maria sighed happily, before she headed off to help the soldiers with the civilians.

* * *

Maria was about to head back to base after helping out in the city for several hours, when Rouge spoke over the communicate. Maria stopped and listened in.

"_The system is picking up a couple strange readings. They're coming from the laboratory, the one where Sonic fought Infinite._"

"_It's probably another of Eggman's robots_." Silver responded, almost dismissively.

"_Life readings, two of them._" Maria put a hand over her mouth, she could hear the eye roll from Rouge. "_Definitely not robots._"

"_Hey rookie, go to the lab and check it out!_" Knuckles ordered.

"Where is the lab?" She asked while packing up the rest of her stuff, she quickly reached out and grab the loose pack of bandages that tried to run away.

"_It's in the Mystic Jungle, want me to meet up with you up there partner?_" Sonic responded.

"I got this, thank you though Sonic." Maria answered, slipping her backpack back on. She then took off towards the Mystic Jungle, catching a ride with some Soldiers already heading towards that direction.

Maria marveled at the sight of the Jungle, oh chaos the lights were gorgeous, why hasn't she been here before? Maria vowed to come back here after the war was over, it made her feel better to dream about the future. Eggman wasn't going to win.

But again, 'task at hand, Maria' she thought to herself.

"_We've picked up the two life readings near the lab up ahead._"

Maria nodded her head mostly to herself in understanding as she ran through a giant hollow tree trunk.

"_If they aren't robots, what are they?_" Knuckles came through after Amy.

"_If they're enemies, taking them both on might be a big ask for the rookie._"

Maria though wasn't paying much attention to what they are saying because WATER-SLIDE?! What maniac uses a water-slide as the only way to your lab? Oh yes, that maniac would be Eggman.

"NOBODY WARNED ME ABOUT THE SLIDE!" Maria shouted into her communicator as she tried her best not to be sent flying over the edge of the curved slide.

"_Be careful, the current is pretty strong!_"

"..you think?!" Maria replied to Amy, her eyes wide, this place was insane. Maria could just hear Amy say something else, but the rushing of the water around her made it hard to understand what she said. One traumatising water-slide ride later, Maria laid on the ground, practically soaking wet. She slowly got up and shook out the water from her fur, it puffed up like crazy afterwards. Maria was not a happy cat.

"_They sure went to a lot of trouble to make this lab hard to find._"

"_They must be doing experiments they don't want people to know about!_"

Maria had to agree with Knuckles there, so she continued onward, but was met with another slide of doom. Maria shuddered to herself, she deserved a hot shower when she got back to base.

"_Well look at you, rookie. Having fun in the water?_"

"_What? Jealous you can't play on the slide, Knuckles?_" Amy teased.

"He can take my place if he wants," Maria mumbled mostly to herself, she doubted they would hear her over the sound of the rushing water.

"_This is no time to lose focus, that's all! Uh, be sure to give it all you got, rookie!_"

Maria finally got off death slide number two, her fur was soaked, her clothes were soaked, so if there were two enemies they'll be dealing with a very grumpy cat.

"_The readings are really close now._" Amy stated, "_Reinforcements will arrive soon, so meet up with them._"

"Thank you, Amy. I'm at the lab now, I can't see anyone but I'll take a look around." Maria replied, looking up at stone door as she walked closer. She then kicked something, she blinked in surprise looking down at the red gem on the ground. Maria kneeled down and picked it up carefully, its lit up briefly as she touched it. Maria didn't like the energy coming from it, but she felt it was really important. She then took her soggy bag and put the red gem into it to take back to the base.

Maria then heard footsteps, she jumped up ready to fight but she saw...sonic? No, this hedgehog was much smaller. She then heard another noise, she looked up seeing Tails floating down towards her. The young fox and the smaller sonic lookalike shared a look before looking back at her.

"Have we met before?" Tails asked. Maria shook her head smiling towards, "I don't think so, but hello, I'm Maria, Maria the Cat." She held her hand towards him, which Tails took quite eagerly and shook it.

"Maria..? That name sounds familiar.. But anyway! It's nice to meet you! I'm Tails, and this is Sonic, well, a different universes Sonic." Tails smiled happily while the smaller Sonic nodded his head giving Maria a thumbs up.

Maria couldn't help but think the small Sonic was really cute. "It's lovely to meet you both," she said softly. "Come on, I'm sure everyone at the resistance will be happy to see you both." Tails look excited, while the little Sonic just looked happy to go anywhere. Maria chuckled softly then started to walk, showing them the way to the base.

* * *

**Chapter 4 complete! Whooo, still going strong I think. xD. **

**Kurama TPZ: Hi! Thank you for continuing to read my fic! To answer your question though, Shadow will be appearing very soon. The next Chapter, I think, from what I understand from the Shadow DLC, he was mentally manipulated? It's honestly not quite clear but I'll work with it. xD**


	5. Chapter 5

Maria could see Tails getting more excited the closer to the meeting room, the smaller Sonic just travelling along looking quite chipper. Maria had made sure they both had had something to eat before they went to meet up with the others. She might have been a bit motherly making sure they had eaten but she couldn't help it. She opened the door, and-

"SONIC!" Tails shouted happily before flying over to Sonic.

"TAILS!" Sonic pulled his younger brother a tight hug.

"I was so worried, I thought you were.." Tail trailed off as he pulled away. Maria followed in the small Sonic before she sat off to the side on one of the many crates.

"Ah, you worry too much, I'm perfectly fine," Sonic gestured to himself, trying his best to console his younger brother. "And it's been generations since I've seen you, are you okay?" Sonic looked at his smaller counterpart. The smaller Sonic gave him a thumbs up.

"The good news is that your safe. The bad news is Eggman said he has a plan that'll destroy us all in three days!"

"Three days, huh? Well a lot can happen in that time!" Sonic put his hands on his hips, but everyone else looked concerned at this information.

"I don't like the sound of that. Normally I'd just laugh at Eggman's plan, but he's already conquered most of the world, So.. what's this plan of his?" Knuckled asked while stepping forward. Before anything else could be said, Vector came through the communicator.

"_I hate to butt into your important meeting, but we're under attack! Shadow is tearing through our troops! We need reinforcement!_"

Maria looked towards the large monitor as Vector appeared on the screen, they all could hear the shouts and faint explosions in the background. But the mention of Shadow made Maria's stomach fall, this wasn't like the Shadow she remembered. She rubbed her forehead as she got flashes of Shadow smiling, showing her all the things he learned.

"Shadow... " Maria looked up when she heard Sonic practically growled the dark hedgehog name. "The last time I saw him he was fighting for Eggman."

Knuckles shook his head, "It doesn't make sense. Why would Shadow help the enemy?" Maria's sinking feeling just grew more intense, the more this went on.

"Perhaps he's being controlled by that strange power?" Silver suggested.

"Can Infinite do that?" Maria asked, hoping there was a reason for Shadow being like this, there had to be a reason.

"Whatever it is, I'll figure it out!" Sonic stated firmly. He then disappeared in a blur of blue, several sheets of paper flying off the table from the rush of air.

* * *

All Maria could do was watch the monitor as Sonic went to the city, it was under attack once again. Maria felt sick yet glad all the civilians had been evacuated. She shared looks with Amy, all of them in the meeting room were extremely tense.

"_What the heck!? A whole army of those Death Egg robots!?_" Vector shouted, and the video feed came in. They could all see the giant robots in the background smashing everything in sight.

"_Oh no! There are so many of them!_" Charmy sounded scared.

Maria started to pace a bit, her eyes though never left the screen. She felt Knuckles place a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down a bit.

"_Hurry, Sonic! We can keep them in check, but not for long._"

"_That'll work! I'll find Shadow and be back in no time!_"

Maria went to sit next to Tails and Amy, the pair typing away at a set of computers. Maria knew she could probably be more useful elsewhere, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the meeting room. Her eyes fixed on the large screen that played images of what was happening in the city. She hoped the fighting would get better, but it didn't, it really didn't.

Knuckles was gawking at the newest report he got from the front lines. "This many Death Egg robots? Come on, seriously?!" He looked towards Amy who had given him the report, she just nodded her head, her ears flat against her head. Maria's ear also went flat against her head, hoping everyone makes it back okay.

"_I'm not one to complain, but that's a lot, right? Way more than we can reasonably take on._" Vector actually sounded worried.

Then the communicator went silent, that didn't help anyone's nerves but they had to trust that they will be able to do it. So they all sat in baited silence. Until Amy started to get shift excitedly, she grabbed her communicator to tell everyone in the city.

"Listen up! Shadow has been sighted!" Amy stated, while Maria looked at the female hedgehog's computer screen, she could see blurry images of something black and red. "Apparently he's travelling above the city at high speed."

Maria heard Sonic make a small grunt of acknowledgement. But the room went back to a tense silence. Maria's tail swished nervously behind her. Literally minutes later, "The last sighting was just up ahead." Amy told Sonic. "Be careful, Sonic."

They had a feed showing Sonic running up to Shadow, the black and red hedgehog barely acknowledging him until he spoke up, "_Alright Shadow, what's the deal?_"

Shadow turned to look at Sonic, not once did he speak, he started to run forward to attack. But then, "_CHAOS CONTROL!_" another Shadow appeared kicking the other Shadow away. Sonic looked between them in shock, ".._Another Shadow?_"

Everyone was staring at the screen in shock, hoping to get answers quickly. The other Shadow then disappeared. Sonic definitely looked shocked, but Shadow didn't look surprised, as he looked back at Sonic.

"_That was a fake._"

"_A fake? How?_"

Maria didn't hear them say they were coming back as she was just relieved that Shadow wasn't doing all this, he wasn't hurting all these people. Some of the stress she was feeling quickly ebbed away.

* * *

Maria was helping Amy with some squadron movements when the meeting room door opened up, followed by Shadow's voice. Maria tensed up, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She had to get out of there somehow, she couldn't let Shadow see her. She didn't want to break his heart again. She peered over her shoulder briefly to see that everyone was gathering around the table, Shadow leant on it looking around. Maria turned her head so they didn't catch eyes, she moved to the side, her ears flat against her head.

"Infinite can create virtual reality projections. They have mass and form, but no heart and soul." Shadow started to explain what he had learned.

"Virtual Reality? So all those familiar faces that were apart of Eggman's army…" Sonic trailed off.

"Replicas. The problem is, they may not be real, but their powers are as formidable as the originals. According to Rouge, Infinite can create an unlimited number of them." Shadow continued.

"So fight after fight, he can just keep cranking out these counterfeits?" Sonic rubbed at his quills at this information. Knuckles didn't look happy at this information, not only were they up against an army of robots but they had to fight copies of their old enemies. Tail was already tapping away at this computer trying to think of solutions. Everyone else was just silent, while processing all this information.

"Exactly. As it stands, there's no way we can win this." Shadow stated, though there was a hint of anger in his voice.

"Of course we can win this! We always do! We just haven't figured that part out yet." Sonic piped up with a smile, the blue hedgehog ever the optimist.

Maria tried to move towards the door, but Sonic called her over. "Hey 'Ria!" Maria just stopped herself from wincing before she slowly turned around. Everyone was looking towards her, including Shadow, before his eyes widened almost dramatically. Maria looked at shadow, the tears building up in her eyes again.

"..Maria..?" Shadow was practically trembling, his arms unfolding from his usual crossed armed stance.

"..shadow.." Maria felt the tears falling from her eyes, before she was engulfed by the black and red hedgehog. She slowly wrapped her arms around him tightly as the hedgehog just broke down. She didn't want this to happen, she wasn't really his Maria, she was just a fake. Not really even a copy. She had her memories but did that really make her Maria? She didn't know.. She managed to keep these thoughts buried deep but with Shadow here. She can't hide from it all anymore.

They didn't know that most of the room had left, but Sonic remained, he wanted to comfort his rival and his new friend. This was clearly an emotional moment. Shadow eventually pulled away and took in the cat that looked like his old friend.

"..is this real? Are you really here..?" Shadow asked, his voice trembling.

Maria was unable to look him in the eyes, "..I don't know..I really don't know.. I have her memories.. But I'm not her.. I'm just a _fake_." She mumbled, tears still falling from her eyes. Shadow looked at her in shock, "..maria.." he started to speak but Maria shook her head and ran off. Shadow was about to run after her, Sonic though grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Give her a bit, Shads.." Sonic tried, but Shadow had just found his sister again, he wasn't going to let her go like he did last time. He pulled away from his blue counterpart and dashed after the cream cat.

Maria had gotten halfway to her room before she was picked up from behind, "Maria.. Please.." Shadow practically begged. Both breaking down again. Sonic came up after Shadow, before ushering the two into a side room. They deserved some privacy. Shadow refused to let go of Maria, the larger mobian hybrid sitting down on the ground with Maria in his lap. Sonic sat across from them, he felt like all this needs to be addressed.

"..Do you think you can tell us what you remember? What's your first memory as..well," Sonic made a gesture to her whole body. He really didn't know what to say but this seemed like it was the best place to start.

Maria was shaking a little bit but with Shadow holding she was overwhelmed by the familiar comfort. She got flashes of when she had been bedridden, Shadow would be with her all the time, comforting her when she was in pain. Maria looked up at Sonic at his question.

"..I remember watching Shadow..down to earth.. The next thing I remember was stumbling out of an old building, several years ago I think.. An old couple took me in." She replied, "I was..am still confused, I had these memories that weren't.. Are they mine..?"

Shadow was being silent this whole time, he was in a state of shock. This was Maria yet wasn't Maria, her scent was similar yet different. Was it all to good to be true? He gripped her tighter, once again haunted by the sight of her falling to the ground after being shot. But she was here now right? He refused to let her go again.

Sonic was... concerned, Shadow barely allowed anyone to touch him but now he was using Maria like a teddy bear. Maria's story was concerning in itself too, was G.U.N involved? He was going to ask Tail to do some digging, but they needed to deal with Infinite first.

"Maria, I promise, We'll find out the truth." Sonic said firmly, reaching out and placed his hand on Maria's hand. Shadow's spine tensed up growling softly when Sonic touched the cat. Sonic looked incredible amused more than scared. Maria laughed softly as she wiped her face.

"Shadow.." She chastised him gently, the black and red hedgehog relaxed. Sonic pretended to be in awe at how easily that Maria had calmed Shadow down. But he felt like he should give the pair a moment to just talk between themselves for a bit.

"Alright! I need a chili-dog, I'll save you both some!" Sonic jumped up from the ground and headed out of the room. Maria then turned to look up at Shadow, his red eyes moving to meet her blue ones.

"..I'm sorry, Shadow.." She whispered, she was so full of guilt, she will never forget his distraught, horrified gaze as she sent him down to the planet.

"..never do it again." Shadow ordered in his deep tone. Maria let out a soft chuckle, "..I promise…" she whispered before she wrapped her arms around him, her tail curling around him. Shadow grunted in satisfaction at that holding her close. After several minutes, Maria looked up at him again.

"So, tell me everything, have you seen the world like you and-Well we planned?" Maria asked excitedly. Shadow looked a bit uncomfortable suddenly, "I have travelled.. But I haven't not like we planned."

Maria knew she had to take it slow to bring Shadow out of his protective shell, he still his wall firmly up. She could feel it through how tense he was under her hand. He was back to being guarded even with her, but she knew he needed time to adjust again.

"I had a cottage on the outskirts of some woods, there was a flower-field that bloomed the most beautiful flowers. Better than the pictures Grandfather would show us.." Maria smiled happily before she grew a little sad, "I hope its untouched and the war hasn't damaged it. I want to show you.."

"If not, we can fix it." Shadow spoke, his voice lower than before, but it was filled with conviction. Maria felt like things were going to be okay..

* * *

**This chapter was honestly really hard to write, but I hope I gave the meeting justice! Things aren't settled more things will happen but I think this is a good stepping stone! But I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you for reading! **


	6. Chapter 6

Maria got called up to the meeting room after lunch, it took her a lot of convincing for Shadow to let her out of his sight. She had made sure their communicator's were sync up, so Shadow could contact her whenever he wanted and vice versa. Maria walked into the meeting room ready for the next mission. Knuckles looked every excited about something, so she knew it was something big, she was surprised Sonic or Sonic's weren't here for it.

"Listen up! We just for word that Eggman's forces are undermanned at his headquarters in Metropolis!" Knuckles explained while grinning excitedly. Maria's eyes widened, they all knew what that meant.

"They're probably staging somewhere else as part of Eggman's plan. This could be our only chance to take the city." Epsio thought out loud, while Knuckles nodded his head in agreement.

"Exactly! That's why we are focusing on a full frontal assault on Metropolis!" Knuckles slammed his fist into his hand, "I'm calling it, 'Operation Big Wave'."

"Who cares what it's called?" Maria could practically hear the eye roll from Silver, but she actually found the name amusing. "What's important is to have a well thought out strategy."

Knuckles shrugged his shoulders in response, "I thought up this strategy in about a minute and a half. We're going in hard and fast and we're not going to stop till Eggman's army's destroyed."

Tails looked up from his multitude of monitors, "They have more in sheer numbers. So the idea of a quick, focused attacked isn't bad. Also, if we can destroy the phantom ruby, we should be able to send the other Sonic home!" The kitsune then rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "At least I hope so… This is all new territory for me."

Maria gave the young fox a smile, "Your doing amazing Tails," she said softly to him. Tails blushed a bit at the praise.

Knuckles nodded his head towards Tails before he stood up straight, "Okay, let's head for Eggman's HQ! Time to save the world, people!"

* * *

Maria thought Metropolis was a gorgeous city, its was futuristic and super shiny but there was no life other than Eggman's robots. She wanted to see what it was like before the war, hopefully if they win she'll get to see it. She swung from building to building before settling on a high road, robot's already there to meet her.

"_All right! Time for Operation Big Wave!_" Knuckles called through the communicator. Maria was pumped for this, she was super excited. She jumped through the air before heel kicking a robot, the thing crumbling under her attack.

"_We'll surge forward and sweep the enemy away!_"

Maria's ears then shot up in shock as Eggman came through the communicator, how?

"_How absurd! What can that rabble do with an all-out attack? I'll smash them to smithereens!_" It didn't seem like he could hear them, but they could hear him.. Interesting. Maria shook her head before she jumped into the air using one of Sonic's boosters, her grappling hook ready to grab onto anything. But she heard a soft chuckle from beside her, she turned her head and her eyes widened in horror. Infinite chuckled louder almost menacingly at her.

"_Infinite! Activate the phantom ruby!_" Maria watched as Infinite shot forward, then stopped forming a large ball of red energy within his hands. She gasped as a wave of the same red energy hit her, and the world started to distort. "_Make them wish they'd never been born!_"

Maria let out a frightened squeal as she was flipped around and sent flying up? But to her it felt she was falling. Her heart was pounding in her chest when giant dis-proportioned Infinite's started appearing, and swatting at everything in sight.

"_Stay calm! What you're seeing isn't real!_" Maria could hear the desperation in Knuckles voice as he tried to get control of the troops.

"_It's no use! Our troops are scattering in the confusion!_" Maria landed on the underside of the highway and started running forward, even if this was happening she had to keep going. She can't let this attack be in vain. But then she heard the soldier scream through the communicator before going silent. Maria didn't get any time to mourn though as one of the dis-proportioned infinite's slammed it's arm onto the road above her, she reacted by using her grappling hook to swing to safety.

"_This is bad! Our forces were all gathered together, and now they're all plunged into chaos!_" Maria couldn't help but loves Silver's ability to state the obvious. Right now though she had to focus on making sure Infinite didn't swat her out of the sky. She didn't like being upside down like this, running along the roof like it was the floor. Maria then caught the jackal out of the corner of her eye before another wave of red energy towards her, flipping her world around once again.

Maria landed on the actual ground this time and almost whooped for joy, but she suddenly had to dodge energy shots. She looked forward, seeing several turret robots move up from the ground. 'Fantastic..' she thought to herself, sarcastically. Maria dodged to the right before she used her Wispon, the lightning whip cutting the turrets in half in one swipe.

"_Maria! Maria! What's happening?!_" Maria jumped as Shadow's voice filled her ear, panic clear in his voice.

"It's Infinite.. He is warping reality around us. But I'm fine.. Shadow, honestly." She replied to him, casually ducking underneath a laser. She still heard him growl regardless, she couldn't smiling at that.

"_I'm on my way there._" Shadow stated firmly before clicking off before Maria could get a word in edgewise. She shook her head a little but her focus was taken elsewhere as Infinite appeared again, shifting the world again. Maria gave the jackal a withering glare after she landed on the side of a building. She kept moving though and ran up the side of the building, dodging even more lasers.

"_This is Eagle Squad! We're caught in enemy crossfire!.._"

"_Snake Squad requesting reinforcements!_"

"_This is Fox squad! We can't hold out much more!_"

Just as she reached the top of the building Infinite appeared again. Even with his mask on Maria could tell he was smirking at her, acting like this all was just an amusing game to him. She was getting angry, something she didn't experience often, it wasn't in her nature.

"_80% of our forces have been wiped out! And we've lost contact with the rest!_" Oh chaos, 80%? Maria felt sick, her whole body becoming heavy at that revelation.

"_One flip of the phantom ruby switch and everything falls apart on us!_" Maria couldn't agree with Vector more.

"_The rookie is our only hope now.._" Maria stopped in shock, was she the only one still able to continue? Her stomach dropped but she swallowed her fear. They were counting on her. Maria went on slammed through rows upon rows of robots that rushed towards her. The cat panting softly the longer she kept going, she thought they were endless before but it's far worse here.

"_Grrr, we can't keep going on like this._" Knuckles sounded just as tired as she was.

"_As much as it pains me to say it, the best we can do now is to live to fight another day._" Espio did sound pained to leave the fight. Maria didn't want too but, she knew they were losing horribly.

"_Run for it!_" Oh Charmy, the poor dear sounded scared. Maria followed along a path as she went along, she had to get out the city too. But she still had robots to fight, there seemed to be even more of them now.

"_Our Big wave has washed out!_"

Maria saw more of the giant Infinite's appearing in front of her, but this was the only way to get out of the city from here.

"_We haven't lost. Let's fall back and regroup._" Silver called through the communicator. Maria nodded her head in agreement but quickly came to a stop when she saw Infinite. He was looking over the city, monologuing it seemed..

"More ants to crash, I wonder if this world can offer me a real challenge."

Maria started to walk towards him, hesitantly at first but she then gained confidence in her step, she wasn't going to give him the luxury of seeing her cower again.

"And as if to answer, the world sends me a trembling child," He almost sounded displeased, but she knew he didn't really care, his eye showed amusement. But she suddenly had to step back when he appeared in front of her, "to fight and to die here or run away in fear."

Maria pressed her hand against his chest pushing him back, "you and your ruby don't frighten me." She growled, she was channeling her inner Shadow. Hopefully he'll be proud. Infinite's eye narrowed after she dared to touch him, "Fine, I will teach you pain and fear, and then, well at least the fear and pain will end."

Maria actually put her Wispon away for now as Infinite floated up above her, she felt she needed to pull out her abilities to survive this at least. She couldn't really fly but she could levitate to help her dodge quicker. She then dodged the first attack of, squares? This was different than his usual attack, she didn't trust it so she thought it was best to avoid it.

"You must be straggler who got left behind." Infinite spoke to her as they fought. "They strong will always vanquish the weak, you only have your frailty to blame."

Maria rolled her eyes, "Speaking from experience there, Infinite?" the snark rolled off her tongue easily. Infinite growled and shot towards her in fury. Maria smirked at him before she teleported a robot between them, making Infinite hit that instead. Maria moved back quickly while he roared in anger. But Maria wasn't letting up, she threw robot part, after robot part at him. The jackal dodging her attacks. He was growing more angry. He curled up, shaking in rage then a powerful wave of energy erupted from him. Maria cried out as she went flying, she slid across the floor before she clawed at the ground to stop herself.

"Well, well. It seems behind that fear is a spark of defiance." Infinite spoke up again. Maria just rolled her eyes a bit, she had to be more careful she thought as several robots appeared, she was having a hard time dodging their attacks and Infinites. Maria slammed another robot into Infinite after yet another round of dodging. He tossed the robot to the side, glaring down at Maria.

"You've put up quite a fight. I underestimated just how desperately cling to life." He sneered at her.

"I think you overestimate yourself and your power, Infinite." Maria said back coolly as she remained in a combat stance.

Infinite didn't give her a response instead he summoned balls of energy and throw them at her. Maria jumped out of the way of them, one clipped her shoulder, she hissed in pain as she fell into a crouch.

"_Maria, where are you?_" She heard Shadow's voice in her ear. Maria couldn't respond, she was focusing on Infinite.

"I remember you, you ran from me before, you survived there but you throw it all away." Infinite sneered as he formed a large ball of red energy, sending it out to pull her under the Ruby's influence. She gasped seeing cannon's facing her.

"This will be goodbye." She could hear him smiling. Maria went to move back but he fired before she had any time to react. Nothing happened, she looked up to see that the bullets had disappeared before they hit her, only to reappear behind her leaving the cat unscathed.

"What! How is this possible? It can't be? How did you..?" Infinite didn't seem to continue his question, instead he shot at her again. Maria jumped up to dodge only for Infinite to appear in front of her, pain erupted in her chest and she was sent flying backwards. Maria hit the back wall with a sickening thud. She slid down collapsing to the ground, barely conscious.

"_Maria? Maria..? MARIA?_" She could just hear Shadow calling for her, she then slipped into the darkness.

* * *

Shadow was searching frantically through the city, she wasn't responding to him and his gut told him it wasn't for a good reason. He was angry that he hadn't been there with her. But she refused to let him, same old Maria. Shadow shook his head, continuing his search. Eventually he caught sight of Infinite fleeing from somewhere, Shadow didn't like the sinking feeling he got. He dashed forward, leaving a trail of gold behind him. When he got to where Infinite had been, he felt fear and horror consume him, like when he was he watched..

"Maria!" He cried out, running over to her limp form. He gently rolled her over onto her back, but her cry of pain made him hesitate. Shadow continued though and pulled her into his arms, he had to get her to a doctor.

"Chaos Control!" he shouted, both of them disappearing in a flash of light.

* * *

Shadow appeared back at the base, in the middle of the infirmary. Shadow ignored the noises of shock and surprise. He also didn't care if others have been waiting to be seen he just went to the nearest empty bed. He set Maria down just as Dr Lupin came over to see what was happening.

"..oh dear," the doctor said in horror, he immediately went about checking her over. Shadow didn't move from his spot next to the bed, his arms crossed, eyes staying on Maria. Dr Lupin had already realised he had to work around the hedgehog, but he didn't dare anger the ultimate life form.

"She has a dislocated shoulder, burns on her other shoulder, bruising on her back and a concussion, I believe." Dr Lupin explained to Shadow, trying to at least ease the hedgehog. But he didn't wait for permission to treat his patient. After a while Dr Lupin had finished up, Maria's arm in a sling, the burns covered carefully and a drip was set up to keep her hydrated as well as make it easier for them to give her pain relief.

Shadow waited until the doctor had gone before he closed up the curtain around the bed and sat down beside her. He sat there in silence, vowing that Infinite will get what's coming to him.

* * *

**I'm sorry I haven't uploaded in a couple days, the flu has got me good, but I'm getting there. Thank you for reading this far, I hope your enjoying it. :3**

**Cameron Mcintyre: Thanks for the review! I'll go back and have a look at what I wrote, I thought I said that or explained it. But I might not have, thank you for bring this up! **

**Kuruma TPZ: YYYAAAAS FLUUFFFF~ xD**


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